On Keeping an Open Mind
by LastGirlOnTheWrite
Summary: Ichigo Kurosaki has been a little depressed lately, so Orihime Inoue has come up with the perfect solution! A special home-made lunch! Oh, the horror... but... is it really that bad? Total Fluff, but it might make you think a little.


**Hi everyone! I suddenly got this idea in my head, and I just **_**had**_** to write a one-shot about it. **

**It is complete and total FLUFF! ^_^ **

**I have a theory about the cooking tendencies of one Orihime Inoue, and I have yet to see anyone write **_**anything**_** like this before. I dunno, I could have just missed it, but who cares!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing! (Except for my own crack-pot ideas)**

**Summary: Ichigo Kurosaki has been a little depressed lately, and Orihime has the perfect solution! A special home-made lunch, just for him! Oh, the **_**horror…**_** but… is it really that bad?**

**On with the story!**

* * *

"Uh…Inoue… I don't…"

"Come on, Kurosaki-kun! _Eat U~UP_!"

Ichigo sat on the roof of the school during lunch, wondering what he did to deserve this kind of punishment. On his lap was a box filled with little sandwiches. That in and of itself wouldn't be so frightening, if it wasn't for who had made them. Orihime Inoue's taste in food was infamous. It terrified the substitute soul reaper more than all of the Espada combined.

He was stuck between a rock and a hard place. If he didn't eat the sandwiches, Orihime would get upset, and Tatsuki would beat him to a bloody pulp. Sure, he had been a bit depressed lately, but that was no reason to make the bubbly healer suffer. She was looking at him expectantly, and he would be _damned_ if he would make her unhappy. He liked his bones intact.

Tentatively, Ichigo reached into the box and pulled out one of the sandwiches. He couldn't recognize what was actually _in_ the sandwich, mind you, but the colors were interesting. The bread was toasted, and there was a red spread of sorts, along with something green and smushed, and something… _purple?_

Realizing he was stalling, Ichigo decided that he might as well get his gastronomical suicide over with. He popped the sandwich into his mouth, much to the delight of the young girl in front of him.

He was expecting something horrible. Something so disgusting that the moment it touched his tongue it would burst into flames that would travel down his esophagus and into his stomach where it would implode, causing him to die of internal bleeding.

…_huh?_

Ichigo was surprised, to say the least. What he was eating, whatever it was, actually wasn't _that_ bad. The flavors were different, but not horrible. There was something fruity, but also something a little spicy. The more he chewed, the more flavors he noticed, and he couldn't help but admit that it was actually kind of _good_…

Ichigo swallowed then, eyes widening slightly in realization of what had just happened. He ate Orihime's cooking. He _ate_ it… and he _liked _it_…_

Orihime looked up at him expectantly, a look of worry and apprehension on her face.

"Kurosaki-kun… um… was it ok?"

"Actually," Ichigo replied honestly, rubbing the back of his neck, unable to believe what he was about to say, "It wasn't that bad. I actually kind of liked it… I think…"

"REALLY!?"

After a bewildered nod from Ichigo, Orihime could no longer contain the brilliant smile that was just waiting to come out. The look of elation on her face was priceless. She began jumping with glee, absolutely ecstatic that her secret crush had liked the little sandwiches she had made for him.

"Oh, Kurosaki-kun, I'm so happy! I have to tell Tatsuki!" The bubbly girl quickly rushed to the door leading back into the school, continuing to chatter half to Ichigo and half to herself, "Oooh, I have a great idea! Tomorrow I'll make something extra special with my lunch just for you! I'm sure you'll like it!"

Before Ichigo could stop her, Orihime was through the door and merrily skipping down the halls looking for her best friend to tell her the good news.

"Oh, no…" Ichigo sighed to himself as he popped another sandwich into his mouth.

_What have I gotten myself into?_

* * *

The next day, half of Ichigo was dreading lunch, while the other half was strangely excited. By the time he had finished the sandwiches he had yesterday, Ichigo had decided that, yes, he really _did_ like them. The flavors, although foreign, still somehow _worked_.

_Maybe Inoue isn't as bad a cook as we all thought._ Ichigo mused to himself. _Maybe we just need to be a little more open minded…_

"Kurosaki-KUN!"

_Then again…_

* * *

This time, Orihime dragged Ichigo to the trees where she normally ate lunch with everyone. The girls were all waiting there, with a mixture of curiosity and mortification on their faces. Orihime, on the other hand, was wearing a mask of raw determination and petulance.

"Uh, Inoue…?" The substitute queried, "… is there something wrong?"

As Orihime sat down and pulled out her lunch, she looked up at Ichigo with fierce eyes.

"Yes, there _is_ something wrong! _They..."_ Orihime pointed to the girls around her, "… don't believe that you liked the sandwiches that I made for you yesterday, so we're going to prove it to them!"

"Uh, how?"

"With THIS!"

Orihime practically beamed as she pulled out a small lunch-box, opening it to reveal a clone of one of the little sandwiches from yesterday.

"Come one, Orihime. We may not have believed you, but that doesn't mean you can make Ichigo eat one of those things."

Rukia's voice came down playfully from a nearby tree. Ichigo realized immediately that she was trying to taunt him into eating the sandwich, probably thinking that he had lied to Inoue about liking it the first time around.

_Well, jokes on her_, he thought mischievously.

"Why should eating one sandwich be a problem when I ate _six_ of them yesterday?"

All of the girls suddenly looked at him like he had absolutely lost his mind. Ichigo just smirked in reply, until a small voice caught his attention.

"K-kurosaki-kun? Y-you really eat _all _of them?"

Ichigo looked over to see a slightly shell-shocked Orihime. Ichigo glanced over to the other girls, deciding that this was too good an opportunity to pass up.

"Well, Inoue, to tell you the truth I wasn't one-hundred-percent sure that I liked the sandwiches until I finished the third one. By that time, I had gotten used to the strange combination of flavors, and I decided that it really was pretty good. When I finished the last one I was kind of wishing I had one more…" Ichigo then looked down slyly at the new sandwich, "… but it looks like you already have that covered. May I?"

Ichigo reached down for the sandwich as Orihime held up the small lunch-box, her eyes as wide as saucers. The other girls had all gone utterly quite, completely stunned at what the scowling teen had just said.

Before anyone could regain their composure, Ichigo thanked Orihime for the sandwich and swiftly popped it into his mouth. Everyone around him sucked in a breath, and it was all he could do to keep from grinning.

The sandwich itself tasted just as its predecessors did: Sweet and fruity, with a bit of savory and spicy.

After he finished eating the sandwich, Ichigo looked back to the girls around him, most of which seemed on the verge of being sick. The teen quirked an eyebrow at them, wondering what had them so nauseous.

"I-Ichigo…" Tatskui stuttered, "… d-do you know what was in that sandwich?"

_You know,_ Ichigo thought to himself, _I don't actually._

"No, why, what's in them?"

Before Tatsuki could answer, Orihime shook herself out of her stunned silence and offered a chipper replied.

"It was a Strawberry Jam, Honey Wasabi Guacamole and Grape Salad Sandwich!"

Ichigo did his best to keep the shuddering to a minimum, reminding himself that he had already eaten _seven_ of these sandwiches, and was sure he liked them.

"So…" He said out loud slowly, trying to process what he just heard, "…the purple things were the grapes, and that spiciness was from the Wasabi?"

"… And the onions in the Guacamole!"

"Oh, yeah… I remember those…"

The other girls watched in horror as their two classmates carefully disseminated all of the flavors that were found in Orihime's strange concoction.

"You know, Inoue…" Ichigo began after he had managed to get his head around what _exactly_ went into the little sandwiches, "I think that from now on, if you want me to try your cooking you should definitely _not_ tell me what's in it until I've already made up my mind about whether or not I like it."

"Huh?" She looked up at him with confused eyes, "But why not?"

"Because," he continued, "I think my stomach would run away in fright before I even got the chance to try it."

At that everyone laughed, except for Orihime, who looked mildly confused before deciding to join in the mirth, even if she didn't know what was so funny.

"Oh!" She exclaimed after some of the laughter had died down.

Ichigo watched Orihime curiously as she rushed back to her bag, pulling out another small box. Plucking out one of the items inside, she handed a morsel of food to Ichigo before grinning madly at him.

"This," she said with glee, "is the treat that I said I would make for you!"

_Oh boy…_

He may have liked the sandwiches, but that doesn't mean he was going to like _this._ The treat itself looked like a cracker with a dark substance resembling chocolate frosting (with Inoue, you never know) spread on it. Shoved down into the frosting was a round disk of what looked like fried _something._ Ichigo had absolutely no idea what it was, but as he looked up at Orihime he saw that same expectant look that had defeated him the day before.

Sighing, Ichigo did the only thing he could do, and popped the treat into his mouth.

Everyone watched in morbid fascination, expecting Ichigo to keel over any second now, or run to the bathroom, or even vomit on the spot… what they got was something _entirely_ different.

_Oh. My. Lord._ Ichigo thought as he ate the scrumptious little delight. Yes, _scrumptious_. If he had liked the sandwiches then _absolutely __**loved**_ this. The dark substance was, indeed, chocolate frosting. Whatever the fried _something _was, it was salty and relatively soft, adding an excellent contrast to the sweetness of the frosting and the flakey crunch of the cracker. He finished the bite-sized snack almost immediately, and the next words out of his mouth were so shocking that Rukia fell out of her tree.

"Inoue, _**please **_tell me you have more of those…"

Orihime almost fell over in glee, quickly handing over a box filled with the little delights. They were one of her favorite snacks: Batter Fried Eggplant with Chocolate Fudge Frosting on top of a Flakey Butter Cracker.

_It's good to keep an open mind._

* * *

**Well, what did you think? Not too bad for my first one-shot, if I do say so myself.**

**I'm a little proud of this because I honestly think that these strange concoctions would taste good. I'm serious. I'm sorely tempted to someday **_**make**_** the chocolate eggplant treat. I am almost positive I would **_**love **_**it!**

**Don't look at me like that. I've done stranger things. I eat catfish with sour cream, and put mashed potatoes and shredded cheese in my ramen.**

**No, I'm not kidding.**


End file.
